It looks like there was an upgrade in Okabe’s cellphone plan since he’s gone from a cellphone to a smartphone in the newest Steins;Gate game. There has been a new video for the upcoming sequel Steins;Gate 0. Featured is the new “RINE Trigger system”.
Instead of the d-mail system like in the first visual novel — where you got occasional e-mails from your friends at story moments to affect the plot progression — you will now get text messages in real time through the RINE app on Okabe’s phone, which you’ll be able to respond to while playing through the story.
Phones played a key part in the first Steins;Gate and dated the game in a good way, making it clear that the game took place in a particular point in time of the late 2000s. The switch to a smartphone and using an app seems to be taking that same key function to make it recognizable as a sequel to Steins;Gate while still bringing a significant change to the mechanics of the game.
Steins:Gate 0 comes out in Japan for PS4, PS3, and PS Vita on December 10. We have yet to receive news of a western release, but considering the success of the anime and first visual novel, it isn’t too unlikely that a western release could follow.
(ED. NOTE: We are having trouble getting the video on the site since 5pb is blocking the video outside of Japan. For now, you can check it out at this link as well as the source below.)
